Thomas Mickey: Plant peonies now for a burst of color next spring

Tuesday

Sep 27, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 27, 2011 at 7:01 PM

In her magazine this past spring, Martha Stewart featured her new garden of rows and rows of peonies. Each row had a different color. Peonies make a wonderful spring flower, but they aren’t just for Martha. Now is the time to plant peonies in your garden.

Thomas Mickey

In her magazine this past spring, Martha Stewart featured her new garden of rows and rows of peonies. Each row had a different color.

Peonies make a wonderful spring flower, but they aren’t just for Martha. Now is the time to plant peonies in your garden, whether you plant a nursery’s potted variety, you divide peonies from your garden or you order a bare root selection from an online garden center.

With the debate today about native versus exotic plants for the garden, the peony takes a place in the garden hall of fame as an exotic from China that has long held a coveted spot in the hearts of American gardeners everywhere. This plant is truly a favorite. We do not have to worry because it does not crowd out native plants or provide any sense of threat to native species. Perhaps that’s why we continue to plant it.

Peonies fall into two broad species: the herbaceous and the tree or shrub peony. The more popular is the herbaceous variety that dies to the ground in the winter and reemerges in the spring.

Alan Armitage, perennial plant expert and professor at the University of Georgia, says, “The herbaceous species have received the most attention and are far more important garden plants than the tree forms.”

There are four different forms of herbaceous peonies. The single features five or more petals around a center. The Japanese also has five or more petals around the center, while the semi-double resembles it but has more petals. Finally, the double offers a much fuller look, with petals that appear as if in several layers.

Though the peony has grown in China since the fifth century B.C., it was first introduced into European gardens in the early 1800s. Since then, more than 3,000 hybrids have been raised, with some from the United States.

The Klehm family, owners of Song Sparrow Nursery in Wisconsin, has been hybridizing peonies since 1900. Their plants have often won prizes for their form, beauty and endurance in the garden.

Three peonies I planted last fall were hybrids by either Carl or Roy Klehm. The plants –– Paeonia ‘Angel Cheeks’, ‘Bowl of Cream’ and ‘Ursa Major’ –– arrived in September boxed as bare roots. To plant them, I found a sunny spot and dug a hole big enough for the root system to allow the eyes of the plant to be 2 inches below the surface. I filled the hole with soil and compost. In May, they bloomed in colors of white or pink.

As one of easiest plants to grow but also a showstopper in the garden, it is not hard to see why the peony has enjoyed such a long history in the garden.

Thomas Mickey is a master gardener from Quincy, Mass., and professor emeritus at Bridgewater State University. You may reach him at www.americangardening.net.

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